The New Time Lord Empire
by ShineLikeCastiel
Summary: The Master has finally taken his greatest foe: The Doctor. Together, they will build a new Gallifrey, own the universe, and re-build their Time Lord race to their design. Only the Children of the TARDIS herself have any chance of leading the charge to reclaim a planet and stop them before the whole universe is threatened.
1. TARDIS Life

The TARDIS. The best ship in the universe. My home, my family, and the start of every adventure with the Doctor, last of the Time Lords, and my best friend. He was once known across the universe, for things good and bad (but mostly good), but now nobody knows who he is. He tells me I shouldn't exist, as I'm half human, but also have Time Lord DNA with elements that come from the TARDIS. I'm here all the same, and I'm glad I am. The Doctor and I have been together for over 300 years. In that time we've seen so much. We've watched as people sang in joy at finally having freedom, and watched as people we barely knew gave up their life to protecting their loved ones, and saving their home planet. Whether I know them or not never affects how much the loss hurts. They shouldn't have had to sacrifice anything at all. We should have found another way. I should have found another way. After all, the Doctor is only one person, and isn't always right, however amazing he is. I should say something more often. It might save someone, but I don't. I never speak out. I'm always in the Doctor's shadow. I'm a person whose very existence is impossible, and yet I exist anyway. Surely, if I can break the rules of the universe, then I can speak out now and then.

The truth is, sometimes, the Doctor is just too scary. He can get too emotional, and that's when he makes his mistakes. When he's truly angry, anything can happen…I've seen people thrown out of the only safe refuge, or falling under the sheer force of the TARDIS herself. When he's determined to do something or save someone, nothing will stop him, and if anything does, that's when he gets truly angry. I'm scared of him when he's like that. The possibility he could turn on me always seems very real. In that moment, our Doctor's gone, and someone, something replaces him. Eventually, our Doctor comes back, sometimes regretting what he's done, sometimes not. I try to help him as much as I can; eventually the Doctor seems back to his normal self and we continue our journey through time and space. Though the good times, and the bad, we were always a team. We cared for each other during the dark times, shared the good days and the light of many different suns. I guess I'd always thought that it would never change, that we'd always be together. I was wrong. We couldn't be together, not all the time. Some days we'd even be on opposite sides, and it would be more than just an argument, but even then our Doctor would find his way back. Except once. I almost lost him that day.

I awoke to the comforting sound of the TARDIS' engines, wished her a good morning and got out of bed with a smile. I wandered into the console room, ready for another day. For a few moments it was just me and the TARDIS. I smiled as I noticed the tiny details of the place I called home, the little things that I'd usually ignore, but when I had a moment to myself I'd notice; the little signs that she was more than just a ship. The new lights high on the walls smiled down, the mundane metal flooring beneath my feet – everything around me felt like a part of me, a part of my life and a part of my home. Every centimetre seemed to hum with the TARDIS's secrets and the adventures the Doctor and his friends had been on and were yet to have, with the amazing places as yet unseen, future journeys the Doctor, the TARDIS and I had yet to share, and with the oncoming storm that was all too clear.

Clara had told me that stepping into the TARDIS sometimes felt like an intrusion, explaining that some days walking through those doors felt like stepping into an old church, especially when she hadn't been ready as soon as she landed and the Doctor was wasting time by "having a moment with his snog box". I'd used to think that the Doctor was a mad scientist, and he used the TARDIS as his laboratory. I knew better, of course, but I did have an overactive imagination, something which I've kept, even in my second incarnation. I'd imagine the console was his main computer, and he'd receive data from all of his bubbling experiments he was running. The main console lends itself to imagining uses of the various leavers and buttons, even if you do know what they all do. They could control anything and fiddling with them could do any number of things. As much as I loved being with the Doctor, I liked the moments I could share the console room with just Mum, these pauses where we were just another mother and daughter, and the fact that one of us was a magnificent time-ship and the other was half human didn't matter. I always felt closer to her here. When I am alone, it almost feels like she is standing beside me, holding me close to her. Here we could be together and talk about adventures and friends past, and our hopes for the future. She couldn't answer, not in a way most people would recognise, but I can hear the tiny changes in the ambient hum, the slight dimming and brightening of the lights in response, and one day I hope to understand these signs for sure, but for now I can only guess. I can only run my hand along the console affectionately, and hope she can feel that I love her more than anyone or anything in the whole of space and time, and the only other person I care about anywhere near as much is the Doctor and at one point, the Ponds.

Amelia and Rory. They shared our adventures; they became part of our lives. They were the first people I had shared adventures with other than the Doctor, and Amelia was the first new person the Doctor saw in his eleventh incarnation. They welcomed us into their family, they were always there…strong, trustworthy, and always ready to listen. They were touched by an angel, and now they live in the past, with us unable to reach them. Losing them made me wonder if I would ever lose this life I love so much. Would Mum and the Doctor be forced to leave me behind somewhere, or would the Doctor's silence fall, and the universe shiver? I promised myself that it would never happen, but if promises really had an impact on the universe, the Ponds would still be here. If that ever did happen, I'd want those close to me to know they are loved.

Mum can only hope I know I am loved, which I do, and I tell her this, but somehow I still doubt whether she can understand. At moments like these we can look back on paths taken, we can take time to enjoy the memories of the times we've shared. Normal life on Earth always seemed dull compared to the life I live, and after trying it for a year, I'm glad I am where I am. The lights brightened momentarily. I guessed her telepathic circuits had noticed I was in a reflective mood, and she was watching over me. I jumped slightly as I heard the clang of metal and the Doctor call out. I grinned. The Doctor was definitely a mad man in a box, and no one could fail to see it when he tripped over the chair standing in the console room of his own ship. He quickly regained his balance before could fall and huffed.

'I knew that chair should have gone somewhere else.' He moaned.

I turned around to see the Doctor almost bouncing towards me, his grin lighting up the room, already wide awake and seemly already forgotten his near-miss. He always seemed so full of energy, but I knew that deep down, he could tire and ache just like any other being in the universe. I'd seen it happen to him. Today, however, no trace of it could be seen. To someone who didn't know him, he could be the happiest man in the universe.

'Good Morning.' He said as he turned around to face me.

'Good morning, Doctor.' I replied with a grin.

The Doctor turned back to the console, and released the time/space handbrake, sending us into the time vortex, heading towards a new destination.

'Where we off to?' I asked. He smiled at me, and turned the small scanner screen towards me 'No...way.' I could have danced around the console room with excitement. Galalis Prime. Beautiful landscapes, trickling streams and large forests made it one of my favourite places to be. My happiness was short-lived. The cloister bell rang out through our ship. I fear that sound more than any other sound in the universe. It means imminent danger, it means there's something big and terrible in the near future, and all other plans need to be shelved until this problem is fixed. The Doctor checked the TARDIS's systems over while I made sure she was ready to dematerialise out of the time vortex quickly if needed.

'What is it?' I asked.

'A distress signal. It's strange.'

'How?'

'This frequency…It's a direct connection to the TARDIS. Who could know the exact frequency? It's over a thousand numbers long!' he danced around the central console, his arms flailing madly when they weren't manipulating the controls of his magnificent ship.

I was starting to think there was a fault somewhere; no one could know that frequency, certainly not down to every number. Not even I could. I couldn't think it over for long, I had other problems. The Doctor started to fade from me.


	2. Hello Sweetie

**A/N: I was going to abandon this story, but 07's Disciple and CombineGLaDOS persuaded me to carry it on. Can't make any promises when updates will happen, though.**

I ran over to the scanner screen. Somehow, someone had breached the TARDIS's defences, and managed to get a teleport beam into our ship.

'Akemi, the TARDIS can block it.'

I jumped into action, flipping levers and pushing buttons. Nothing was happening. The Doctor was being taken from me, I didn't know who by or why, only that nothing I was doing was stopping them.

'It's not working!' I called, hoping he'd be able to give me the solution I needed. He couldn't. The Doctor disappeared from before my eyes. I tried everything I could; all I could get was the co-ordinates. The TARDIS didn't seem to want to go to them. I sat down on the cold, hard floor. If she didn't want to go somewhere, she would fight it with everything she had. I wouldn't get any closer to finding the Doctor, and I'd just be hurting her trying. There was only one other thing I could do to try to get her to change her mind.

'Mum...?'

I knew if anyone was around, it would look weird talking to the TARDIS, but to me, it was just like anyone else talking to their mum. I could hear a slight change in the ambient sounds. I wondered if this meant she was listening. I dismissed this thought with a smile. Once, for a few hours, she was human. One of the things she said was that she was always listening to us, and if the Doctor and I, or any of our friends ever needed help, all we had to do was ask. I needed her now.

'I know there's most likely a reason why you don't want to go and save our Doctor, but he needs us, Mum. He's lost somewhere with no way back and we need to help him...please, let us go. Whatever's there, we'll all be ok, I promise.'

The pitch of the sounds lowered, she wasn't going to listen to me, and I wasn't going to make her. I could only turn to someone else, but who? I knew Jenny, Strax and Madame Vastra would help, but without the TARDIS's help, I wouldn't be able to get them to the Doctor. Clara was busy with Angie and Artie, and even if I could get the TARDIS to pick her up at a time when she wasn't, I wasn't sure if she'd make it back as my instincts told me it would be dangerous, and they were usually right. There was one person who would always show up when we needed her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I stood alone, unsure of what to do or who to turn to, my only ways to reach my best friend an uncooperative bigger on the inside blue box, or a woman who lived life in reverse compared to us, and yet still managed to be around when we needed her. Well, except today that is. The one time I truly needed her, she wasn't around, and I had no idea how to contact her, or even where she was.

Suddenly the groaning of ancient engines filled the Console Room. The TARDIS was taking me somewhere, I just didn't know where. Her screens flickered and died seconded later. They refused to show our destination. I didn't know if we'd continue on our previous course, or if the TARDIS would decide to land somewhere new. The sound of the engines began to increase in pitch, as though the TARDIS was being pulled away from her desired course. The room around me shook as I held onto the console for dear life. After what seemed like hours, we materialised. I wondered outside. Leafy green forests provided shade from the two medium yellow stars above, while a small freshwater stream trickled by. I recognised the place instantly. It was Galalis Prime... except, it looked different. The area had lost some of its natural beauty. Plants seemed to be lacking a large amount of fruit, leaves or entire branches. There were a few buildings that looked like someone had used only local resources to build them, and they were badly hidden by the surrounding plant life. Curious, and with no other leads to follow, I walked into the nearest building.

It was plain and simple inside. At first glance, nothing looked out of place or out of its time. The others were like the first, simple but habitable. It almost looked as though a primitive people had move into the forest and set up a small cul-de-sac in the area. Almost. There was a small metal object on one of the walls in the hut I was in. It looked like a button, which was strange, because these people, whoever they were, had barley invented steam, let alone the electricity needed to make the button useful. Knowing there was a high chance I'd regret this decision later, I pushed the button.

The sound of gears and hydraulics moving was accompanied by a dark chasm opening in the floor below me. Steps lead downwards into the darkness below. I slowly began my decent. Lights flashed on as soon as my foot touched the first step. I froze, afraid that I'd triggered an alarm system. There were no red flashing lights or alarm. Nothing. I guessed that it was just an automatic lighting system, and continued on my way. I heard a commotion further down so I took a detour into a side room to see what it was. River Song stood surrounded by wires and pieces of metal.

'Security system, it won't be picking anything up soon though.' She explained with a grin.

'I'm glad to see you. I need you, but you didn't pop up like you usually do, well, until now.' I smiled.

'What's up?'

'The Doctor's been kidnapped from the TARDIS, she didn't want to go directly to where he was taken to, so I got as close as I could.'

River looked thoughtful for a second. 'I was following someone; maybe he's involved in this…'

'Only one way to find out…'

River and I descended the last steps together. Our surroundings started to look stranger with every passing second. Rock and dirt gave way to metal and plastic. Somebody was here, and it was somebody that didn't belong in this time. At the bottom of the steps there was a door open for us. I could hear voices from the other side. I tried to make out what they were saying, but I couldn't. The only thing I could gather from them was that they were male. A dagger thrust itself into my hearts as I heard one of them shout. He sounded like the Doctor, and I had to stop myself from running into the room at that precise second. However, after a few minutes discussing our situation, we found there was no other way, River and I walked through the door.


End file.
